It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.~ Teddy Roosevelt

Are you doing something important?

Let me rephrase that; are you doing something that’s important to you?

There is such a difference in the quality and happiness of my life, when I’m living according to what I believe is important, and taking actions that support my beliefs. A passive life, a spectator life, is no life at all.

Teddy Roosevelt was an amazing man. I can’t always agree with his point of view, but I have to admire his spunk and conviction.

I usually get S A D this time of year because of the lack of daylight hours. I’m usually quite vocal about and hating winter. Yesterday I was telling a friend it was a beautiful day and the sky was so blue. It dawned on me that I hadn’t been down and that I have been more content lately. At the time I didn’t know why, but when I woke up this morning the answer hit me. I’m following my heart and my dream.

Me too, Diana. I think it resonates because it speaks to the strong drive in me to see a thing completed, and the inner strength to overcome adversity. Tenacity is akin to the will to survive. To Live!

I love this, Diana – It’s so easy for me to lose focus on how my passions will align in the world, but it’s really about focusing on the why of it. This hits that on the head, because it’s important to ME. Regardless of what others think/feel there will always be purpose in doing what we genuinely feel driven to do. Thanks for this inspiration, as always!
~Andrea<3

I have had many times when I felt like I would take two steps forward then one step backwards, not so much now days but it does still happen like with getting my youngest daughter to be more self sufficient

This quote resonates with me on three counts. Firstly, integrity; to keep acting on your inner, values, dreams and beliefs, even if others criticise. Secondly, tenacity; to keep going despite hardships along the way. Thirdly, humility in defeat; the honour is in the striving towards the goal, not in winning. .

FWIW, I don’t entirely buy the quote. Coaches, for example, are critics, and I think most athletes value their input. Parents and teachers can also be very valuable critics and well worth listening to!

To be pedantic; ‘critic’ has three meanings. The first means someone who judges and finds value, merit or fault (parents, teaches and coaches). The second is a professional evaluator (of art, music, literature etc). The third is a faultfinder (ie: the meaning in the quote).

No surprise there; you both have very similar worldviews. I do not. I do not share the discomfort people have regarding criticism, even the fault-finding kind. In my view there are only two basic kinds of criticism: valid and invalid. That which you know to be invalid can be ignored; it’s invalid. But valid criticism, regardless of the source, can be valuable if improvement is your real goal.

Turn it around. If there was something that bothered you, nuclear power for example, regardless of your knowledge or authority on the topic, would you want your voice heard, your concerns addressed? Many of those fault-finding critics are people with valid, if perhaps misguided, concerns.

Oh, good lord! Am I becoming predictable? It’s certainly true that I seek the other way to look at something. It was the value I brought to my career often times, and it does reflect the way I think… “Hmmm… but what haven’t we considered here…”

In a project context it can be a lifesaver (and I love lifesavers, especially the butterscotch). In a personal context it can be a little annoying, I know, but we are what we are.

A slower thought caught up: no need to appeal to your Uncle (is he big and scary?). This isn’t a case of someone’s right and someone’s wrong. I’m not wrong per my worldview, and you guys aren’t wrong per yours.

Nope. The quote is not about valid or invalid (misguided) criticism at all. It is not about people who think about nuclear power or turn their heads to think carefully about anything of importance. It is about criticism for criticism’s sake. It is about the people who do not do anything much in life, and yet sit back and criticise others who do. This is the paragraph before the famous quote:

“There are many men who feel a kind of twister pride in cynicism; there are many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt. There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes to second achievement. A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticise work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities – all these are marks, not as the possessor would fain to think, of superiority but of weakness. They mark the men unfit to bear their part painfully in the stern strife of living, who seek, in the affection of contempt for the achievements of others, to hide from others and from themselves in their own weakness. The rôle is easy; there is none easier, save only the rôle of the man who sneers alike at both criticism and performance. “

Well, yes. I understand the quote. I’m saying I don’t entirely buy it, and I’ve tried to explain why. It’s very easy to dismiss what are today often called “arm chair quarterbacks” but in my experience, sometimes they’re worth listening to.

I think peoples’ voices deserve to be heard, even the complainers’ voices I don’t fully understand the concern over voices. So what if a 1000 people think you’re wrong? Might be they’re right and you should listen. Or maybe they’re not, and you should ignore them. But I don’t see the issue with hearing them and thinking about them.

It’s a labeling problem. By labeling people as (the bad kind of) “critic” we don’t even have to listen to them anymore. It surprises me a bit you don’t see the turnaround on this. Hasn’t the label “woman” be used to dismiss female input? (Because clearly women didn’t have the qualification to provide input.) Where, exactly, is the line that qualifies one’s voice to be heard?

I do not believe that anywhere did I or Diana or the quote say anything about not hearing or listening to people. It is not a quote about people’s opinions on things and being heard (your reference to women). It is about action and inaction.
As for the line that qualifies whether you listen to or ignore a critic, the line is in your head. “I believe in this SO much that I will ignore those people who are criticizing me.” That would be the same whether the critic is a teacher, coach, parent, spouse, colleague, friend, acquaintance, someone in the street, someone in the press. It is just harder to listen to your own voice if it happens to be someone close to you who is doing the criticizing; or if it seems as if the whole of the world is against your actions. I am sure Muhammad Ali listened and took on board any criticism by his coach for his boxing. I have no doubt that he would have also listened to and heard the critics who condemned him for his stance on the Vietnam war. In that instance, he just happened to ignore them – all of them. One could say he ‘failed’ because his action (of refusing to go to war) meant he was exiled for four years. Who is the one who is remembered for those actions now? The man who did the action or those who criticized him? Who is the one who counts?

I understand the quote. I moved beyond it to the thoughts it engendered, which I thought was the point of these posts. “Here’s an interesting saying. What does it mean to you.”

Well, to me the quote itself almost falls under the heading of “stuff I learned in Kindergarten.” (It certainly falls under stuff I’ve learned since.) The meaning of the quote itself is old hat to me. What’s more interesting to me is using it as a starting point for a conversation.

Which was what I tried to do. Of course it’s in my head! Where else would my opinions be?

My take: If someone close to you is criticizing you, doesn’t that seem worth at least considering? They’re close to you, so presumably have your interests in mind. Is it always the case that you’re doing exactly the right thing, or might you sometimes benefit from the input of others?

I’ve always had great regard for Ali. He was a man of principle who formed his own opinion about the right thing. And certainly “the whole world” wasn’t against him; many cheered him on (I did). I see no failure there.

“What’s more interesting to me is using it as a starting point for a conversation.” Isn’t that what we are doing?
Not being American, and thus not taught about such things in kindergarten, the first time I heard the quote was in the movie ‘Invictus’ in ~ 2006 (as an aside, the DVD does not have the quote, but it was in the original movie and Mandela did furnish Francois Pienaar with a copy of it at the 1995 world cup). I take your point on people close to me who may be criticizing my actions for my own interests and will ponder that some more in my self-reflective journeying.
However, that does not overcome the fact that the main essence of the quote is geared at pointing out the difference between those doing something that requires courage, skill or tenacity as opposed to someone simply watching, yet criticizing. Even though you claim that you learned the meaning of this in kindergarten or soon after; sadly a lot of people have not.

“Isn’t that what we are doing?” Frankly, when I read language such as “you claim that you learned,” it feels more like an attack than a conversation.

The “Kindergarten” meme refers to something that’s considered obvious and which should have been learned long ago. There is an ironic edge to it. The phrase exists as a testament to the fact that, as you note, many people didn’t learn these obvious things. AFAIK, it comes from the title of a book that was a collections of things people should have learned “in Kindergarten” but which clearly many had not or had forgotten.

What you call the “main essence” of the quote (and I completely agree it is) might be a step up from such “Kindergarten” basics (which is why I said “almost” before), but I think it still falls under a basic Liberal Arts education. That’s something I’ve complained about (the lack of) for 40 years. When we study literature and art we learn the human condition, part of which are lessons on courage, honesty, fear, love, perseverance and a whole lot else. It’s a tragedy of our time that people don’t find this interesting or relevant, because it’s very much both.

This message, about overcoming obstacles, is found in Shakespeare and in ancient Greek plays (and in the ancient literature from the Middle- and Far-East). You find it in modern literature, as well. Heck, you even find it in fairy tales! And as you also note, it can be found in the lives of real people.

You have to admit, it would be nice to live in a world where you could expect adults to know this stuff!

Elizabeth: your mention of the movie reminded me I’ve been meaning to write a blog post about the poem of the same name. I ran into, and immediately took to, it in high school. (In fact, it’s one of those many places I mentioned where this message is found.) Did they reference the poem in the movie?

Hello. I am not sure whether the poem was credited in the movie. I will have to watch it again and see. 🙂
I am interested in the use of poems & quotes and their acknowledgement. There are many incorrectly attributed to famous people.
I too have found the Henley poem inspirational. It has subtle differences in meaning to the ‘Man In The Arena’ quote. I would be interested in reading your post on the poem. I would appreciate it if you came back and sent me a reminder when you write it. I have read some of your posts and intend to follow up a bit more down the track. I am offline now for 3 weeks (summer holidays over here).
Have a great Christmas.

Indeed! Poor Albert Einstein would be, I think, very surprised to see all the things he said. Many of them are entirely made up; I have the impression people attach all sorts of ideas to him to give the idea gravitas and weight. (That one about “insanity being defined as repeating the same action expecting different results” is a good example. Also common, the ones about stupidity being as common as hydrogen or as endless as the universe. Those are, AFAIK, due to Frank Zappa and Harlan Ellison… people far more misanthropic than old Al ever was.)

I’d certainly be interested in your take on Invictus, and you’d be a welcome guest if you drop by. I’ll cache the email I get from this comment as a reminder to come back with a link to any article I write (I seem to be in a “don’t feel much like blogging” part of my Cycle of Moods right now).

Hello, sorry for the slow reply as I have been away.and off-line. Thanks for the references to the incorrectly attributed quotes. That always interests me. I will watch out for your post on Invictus.
All the best for 2014.